We Are Going To Win
by bodyinmotion
Summary: This is my take on an idea of Joss Whedon's referred to as the unused idea. After being thrown out of her house, Buffy meets a force that grants her one wish. Follows the events at the end of season 7, with an AU twist.
1. The Salun

Chapter 1

She finally had a moment to herself. It wasn't a happy moment to reflect on her success, but rather a moment to consider her defeat. Buffy walked through the streets of an empty town. Sunnydale was just about deserted, with most of the people having fled the pending apocalypse. She had been overthrown; her leadership role had now passed to Faith, one of the last people she expected to take on the job as General. "Don't be afraid to lead them..." She didn't like admitting it, but she had confidence that if Faith found her groove, she would lead the potentials well. Faith had the support of the potentials behind her, along with all of Buffy's friends and family. Buffy had made some bad judgment calls, and they had not only cost her her leadership role, but also her place in her own home. They didn't need her there anymore. They didn't want her there anymore. The empty streets left an empty shell of the once familiar neighbourhood. The darkness and the silence surrounding her gave her an even emptier feeling, deep in the pit of her stomach. Wrapping her arms tightly around herself she continued on.

Out of habit she arrived in the cemetery. She wasn't looking for a fight, or a "good slay" as Faith might put it, she was looking for...solitude? No, she had enough solitude with the deserted town all around her. Something about the atmosphere in the graveyard was comforting. The idea that the dead lay beneath her, most of them at peace, comforted her. It was a bleak sort of comfort, knowing that no matter how many people died in the final fight, at least dead they would be peaceful, and not haunted by everything still going on around them. Or so it would be in an ideal world. Buffy knew from everything that she had seen as a slayer that not everyone would be granted the pleasure of basking in heaven. There were just one too many hell dimensions that whoever died might end up in for her to be fooled by her own experience as a previously dead person. At least their part in this fight would be over. "So long as they do something useful before they end up dead, like stop the apocalypse." she though bitterly. What did it matter? She had lost all her power. Now all she could do was wait and see what happened.

She sat down in one of the nearby crypts. There were no vampires around for her to tangle with anyway, all evil was lying low, also waiting for the outcome of the battle. The wind picked up and shut the door to the crypt with a bang. Buffy hardly even looked up. The silence was now absolute. She sighed and closed her eyes. The dank quiet of the crypt helped to clear her head. The last thing she needed was...

"_There are some choices that we do not make. They are made for us..."_

A voice whispered through the darkness. Buffy raised her head and blinked. She hoped she was hearing things. She didn't want to deal with yet another mystical force.

"_You begin to wish you did not have the strength or the power that you possess...you wish things were much different..."_

"You bet I wish things were different. Now who are you and what do you want?" Buffy looked towards the ceiling of the crypt, but she could see nothing but the ceiling.

"_We want nothing but to help you."_

Buffy tensed. Usually when a mysterious voice told her it wanted to help her, it meant she would end up fighting for her life, and that was the last thing she wanted to do at the moment.

"_You are wary of us...you are wise. Do not fear the power of the Salun. We are ancient protectors of those with exceptional power. We have protected all great warriors who defend their people against evil."_

"I'm not some great warrior. I've lost my power, and besides, I don't want it."

"_You are mistaken. Though we have no physical form, we are aware of all great deeds, of all those with power. We have been aware of you for many years. Time and time again you have proven that you are a warrior with extraordinary power, whether you want it or not."_

"Ok, so I'm strong and have super powers, sure. What makes you think I'm here to do great good?"

"_By great, we do not mean good. Great deeds are those that affect many lives, for good or ill. There are forces working now to destroy all that is good. You are not one of them. You have defended your people many times against such forces, and now is not the time to abandon your mission."_

"What mission? I've been kicked out of my own house by my sister and fifty other people living under my roof! I made a mistake, ok, and it cost me, but I know the vineyard is important. Caleb has to have something- how exactly do you help people? Can you tell me how to win?" She wasn't sure why she was telling so much to what appeared to be an empty crypt, but the voice sent warm vibrations through her body, making her trust the voice, and hoping against all hope that it was not a trap.

"_Your mission, is to defend the world and fight for the safety and freedom of your family and friends. You may not be needed in your home, but you are still needed. You are right, there is more to the vineyard...you will discover what secrets it holds soon enough, but we can help you in a different way. We cannot predict the outcome of any war, so no, we cannot even be sure if you will win."_

"Too bad. So what do you do, exactly?"

"_Long ago, we aided those who fought to defend their country by granting them the aid they needed in whatever form they asked for."_

"Meaning..."

"_...meaning...we grant wishes, as you say."_

"Great. I wish this was over and the First is destroyed."

"_It's not that simple."_

"It never is! God, I wish for once, these things didn't come with so many conditions. What exactly can't I wish for then?"

"_We can only give you something to aid you in your battle. And only one wish, so consider it wisely."_

"Ooh, like I could wish for uber-weapons to destroy the uber-vamps?" She waited for the reply, but received only the empty silence. " Hello? I hate it when they just disappear like that." She heard a dull "thunk" somewhere nearby. Tensing once again, she fumbled in the dark looking for whatever had fallen. And then her hand touched something hard. Something that was definitely not part of the stone crypt. As she wrapped her hand around it, she felt it grow warm. Her heart began beating faster. She couldn't see whatever the thing was, but it wasn't your average rock. She scrambled for the door, hoping she had enough time to escape if the thing was a bomb. She fought to open the latch on the door. Before she could dash out, she heard it...


	2. Having Faith

Chapter 2

A.N. I forgot a disclaimer in the first chapter, so I will add one in now. I do not own any part of the Buffyverse.

"It's not about wishes, its about choices..." "_Or about choosing a wish, if you're me" _Buffy thought as she gave her last formal speech to the potentials. She had done it. She had gone back to the vineyard and taken the scythe from Caleb. She finally knew she was going to win. If Willow could pull off the spell, and Buffy knew she could, they had more than a chance. And, she was back in charge. For the first time in weeks she felt confidence returning to her. The potentials looked at her with renewed hope. Xander looked at her with love and forgiveness. Giles, Faith and Robin looked at her with support and respect. Dawn looked at her in awe. Willow looked...Willow just looked terrified. One glance towards Kennedy and Buffy knew the young woman saw it too. Willow was trying to smile bravely, trying to convince the potentials and herself that she was capable of the magick Buffy was proposing, but Buffy saw through her shaky smile.

A while later Buffy found Willow sitting quietly on her bed, a robe in her lap. "Hey." She said. Willow looked up.

"Hey."

"You ok?"

"No."

"Will, I know I placed a hell of a lot of responsibility on you, but I wouldn't have said anything if I didn't know you were capable of doing it."

"I know. I know I'm capable of it, I mean, if I can destroy the world I'm sure I can save it too right? Its just...that's a lot of power. I don't know if I can control that much energy. The last time I tried anything major, well, if you can call opening that portal major anymore, I nearly killed Kennedy!"

"You didn't nearly kill her. She was fine."

"Oh, yeah, fine, once she recovered from having her life force temporarily drained."

"Look, Will, I don't know much about magic but I know you can control it. It's just good energy or something right?"

Willow nodded. "It is. I just wish I had some kind of concrete reassurance that I'll succeed. If I can't do it, I don't want to think about what might happen to everyone. I suppose I could use some kind of divination, but I'm not very good at it. That was..." she looked away, a shadow of pain crossing her face. Looking back at Buffy she said, "I'm just no good at it."

"We don't need divination to know that you can do it. You have all the good energy inside you. It comes with your heart. Willow, you have so much love to give, and look at all the people who love you. They all have faith in you. Have some faith in yourself. I mean, not like, actually have Faith inside you, she isn't exactly a stellar example if you're looking to follow a model and I'd hate to see what she'd do to your look, after she turned me into slut-Buffy and made me all evilly and stuff." Buffy stopped babbling and looked at Willow. "See, I made you smile."

"You did. Thanks, and I don't plan on having Faith inside me, in any way. I have Kenne-" Willow stopped mid sentence at the look on Buffy's face. Her eyes widened. "Forget I said that."

"You bet.", Buffy looked for something else to say to keep the conversation from getting too awkward. She pointed to the robe in Willow's lap. "I haven't seen that around. Is it new?"

"No, it's old. Well, a few years old anyways." she paused, considering the cloth and running her hand over one of the sleeves. "It was Tara's."

Buffy just nodded. There wasn't really anything she could say. She sat down beside her friend and waited for Willow to continue.

"I've had it since before she died." Willow tried hard not to stumble over the words. "For some silly reason I was hoping it would help me. Buffy, I can still smell..." here, she did stumble. Her eyes widened and she fought the torrent of emotions that suddenly wanted to take hold of her. Buffy put her arm around her friend's shoulders, but Willow took a deep breath and calmed herself. "I'm sorry, its just all the stress from everything that's going on. Its been a year now, and I'm ok with her being gone. Ok, well no I'm not totally ok with it, I don't think I ever will be, but I have Kennedy now. She's been so good to me Buffy, even though she doesn't understand half of what's gone on. Besides, I have some other, much larger things to worry about now. No, I take that back. Not to worry about, to focus on. I have to focus if I'm going to succeed in awakening the slayer power."

Buffy gave Willow's shoulder a little squeeze and stood up. "That's right. You ok, now?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"No problem." Buffy headed for the door, but stopped in the doorway. "Oh, hey I have news. It might cheer you up."

"Let's hear it."

"A few days ago, when I left here, I ended up in the cemetery. Habit I guess. Anyway, I ended up in some crypt, kinda looked like Spike's, before he added all the personal touches. This mystical force talked to me about power and my mission and how I'm some great warrior. And then they told me a story about how they used to grant wishes for these ancient war heroes, like, we're talking eons ago and that they'd decided to grant me one wish as well. To prove that they weren't kidding they send me this." She held out a stone, about the size of her palm. "It kinda just fell out of the ceiling."


End file.
